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http://www.dpreview.com/news/0908/09081601leicassystemspecs.asp?from=rss

Anyone care to predict when 75Mb, 37 Megapixel images measureing 7500X5000 would be normal in a consumer DSLR (perhaps D90, 50D sort of price range?)

Wow, apart from the 37mp images, there doesnt seem to be alot in it to warrant the price tag does there?...

Can you even see the difference in quality in an image with crazy megapixels? Just say you have two images at the same size, one 12mp and one 40+mp for example, could you tell?

Eric, You won't be able to tell on a small print, but there may be a difference if you enlarge it significantly....wall or billboard size. It also gives you more freedom to crop etc...

So with the S2 could you use a normal lens and have an image of say a flower, and crop the hell out of it to look like it was taken with a 'normal' camera with a fancy macro lens? or is that just silly...

The important question here is what Poon's price will be.

eric_r wrote:So with the S2 could you use a normal lens and have an image of say a flower, and crop the hell out of it to look like it was taken with a 'normal' camera with a fancy macro lens? or is that just silly...

Pretty much.
But remember that resolution increases with the SQUARE of the megapixels.
This means that the 37Mp camera is not quite double the resolution of my 12Mp camera. It would need to be 48Mp to achieve that.

Ah ok i didnt know that, thanks Greg

Re original question: hard to say. The fact that they can get 37 Mp out of it is partly due to the fact that the sensor is much larger than 24x36mm, let alone the "APS-C" size used by the "consumer" cameras you mention. Consequently also the lenses are different to those we use on these small cameras.

At 15 Mp the EOS 50D has already hit the diffraction limits of lenses, so increasing pixel count beyond that would not seem beneficial. In fact some people would say it's gone too far. But the growth paths for cameras is a topic that's being hotly debated on the net at the moment (see some of the recent articles at luminous-landscape.com for examples). BTW, if a camera had a 24x36mm (35mm "full frame") sensor at the same pixel density as the 50D, it would have about 38 Mp...

I am glad to hear that they have reached a limit in resolution on APS-C sensors....quite frankly I dont want to think about the getting a 30mp camera, my RAW files are large enough as they are. I wonder when they hit that limit in the point and shoot cameras? Was 14.7mp in the G10 the limit?

Partly that depends on what you decide is a reasonable aperture to shoot at...

Dave iv just looked at your website for the first time. Wow. Your work is amazing! I love every shot and i really enjoy polar stuff. I only hope I have some photos half as good as yours one day!!

aim54x wrote:.quite frankly I dont want to think about the getting a 30mp camera, my RAW files are large enough as they are.

Cameron, I don't think you will have a choice in this. I am quite happy with my 8mp but if I was to upgrade, unfortunately I need to move up... But I don't want to. [Just want larger viewfinder, faster focus, better ISO performance,large 920k LCD etc ]

Greg B wrote:The important question here is what Poon's price will be.

I am sure he will make some accessories to suit!